RPPC of Australian Rising Sun badge carved into chalk hills in Wiltshire

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1918

Overview

Real Photo Post Card (RPPC) of an Australian Commonwealth Military Forces Rising Sun badge carved into chalk hills in Wiltshire during World War One. At the lower right of the image is a much smaller insignia, believed to be that of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
The photograph occupies the lower two thirds of the card, with a plain cream background around and above.
The reverse of the postcard has printed instructions about what to write where, and also has a box in the top left corner with 'Stamp Here' to show where a stamp would be affixed if the card were to be sent through the mail. The message is written in pen across the card and the date in the lower right corner.

Historical information

In remembrance of their colleagues that had not returned from the War, many of the Regiments staying at the military camps carved replicas of their cap badges. After the outlines were cut into the grass-covered hillsides, they were refilled with chalk brought from a nearby slope, up to 50 tonnes per badge.[ The badges took an average fifty men six months to complete. By the end of World War One, there were some 20 badges, the largest of which was the Australian Commonwealth Forces Badge, the Rising Sun, which measures some 60 metres from one end of the lettering scroll to the other. It is still being maintained with support from Australia to this day.
Many Australian soldiers were billeted, trained and hospitalised in camps set up in 1914 in south-west England, and especially in Wiltshire. At the Fovant and Compton Chamberlayne camps, Australians cut large badges and emblems into the chalk hills.
Nine of the original twenty badges remain, and are scheduled ancient monuments recognised by the Imperial War Museum as war memorials. Several of the lost badges were short-lived, small and crudely constructed. This includes the Royal Berkshire Regiment badge seen in the photograph.
The person who wrote the card was obviously impressed by both the depiction and size of the Rising Sun badge.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00727

Item type

Themes